Cardiff School of Sport
DISSERTATION ASSESSMENT PROFORMA: Theoretical / Conceptual (Including: Desk-Based, Secondary Data, Meta-Analysis) 1
Student name: Lewis Morgan Jones Student ID: ST10001016
Programme: SPE
The media coverage of athletes’ perceptions on performance enhancing drugs Dissertation title: in the Olympics.
Supervisor: Kieran Kingston
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Title and Abstract
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Presentation
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CARDIFF METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY
Prifysgol Fetropolitan Caerdydd
CARDIFF SCHOOL OF SPORT
DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS)
SPORT & PHYSICAL EDUCATION
THE MEDIA COVERAGE OF ATHLETE’S PERCEPTIONS OF PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS IN THE OLYMPICS
(Dissertation submitted under the discipline of PSYCHOLOGY)
LEWIS MORGAN JONES ST10001016
NAME: LEWIS MORGAN JONES
STUDENT NUMBER: ST10001016
CARDIFF SCHOOL OF SPORT
CARDIFF METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY
THE MEDIA COVERAGE OF ATHLETE’S PERCEPTIONS ON PERFORMING ENHANCING DRUGS IN THE OLYMPICS
Cardiff Metropolitan University
Prifysgol Fetropolitan Caerdydd
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By submitting this document, I certify that the whole of this work is the result of my individual effort, that all quotations from books and journals have been acknowledged, and that the word count given below is a true and accurate record of the words contained (omitting contents pages, acknowledgements, indices, tables, figures, plates, reference list and appendices).
Word count: 11,982
Date: 20/03/13
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Contents
Acknowledgements...... i
Abstract...... ii
1.0 Introduction...... 1 2.0 Drugs in Sport...... 5
2.1 Policy...... 5
2.2 Testing...... 6
2.3 Policy...... 7
3.0 Drugs and the Olympics...... 11
3.1 History of drug use...... 11
3.2 Timeframe 1960-1988...... 12
3.3 Pre Olympic coverage regarding drugs...... 14
4.0 Major cases of drugs cheats’...... 17
4.1 Lance Armstrong...... 17
4.2 David Millar...... 19
4.3 Dwayne Chambers...... 19
4.4 Athlete’s Perceptions...... 20
5.0 Current Testing...... 29
5.1 Cheats are to blame for doping accusations...... 31
6.0 Discussion...... 36
6.1 Policy...... 36
6.2 Continuing Issues...... 38
6.3 Moving forward...... 39 7.0 Conclusion...... 42
References...... 43
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my gratitude to my dissertation supervisor Kieran Kingston for continually providing me with guidance and support throughout the year. His knowledge and expertise has significantly assisted the direction of my study and his contribution has been greatly appreciated.
i Abstract
The objective of this study was to scrutinize the media coverage of elite athletes’ perceptions on performance enhancing drugs in sport and the Olympics. The interest was to gain an understanding of whom and why certain athletes have been doping, and also how the top level athletes feel about this delicate subject combined with the view of the public. The majority of the research was obtained from media coverage around the time period of the London 2012 Olympics so a major section of this study will discuss the issues around high profile athletes such as Lance Armstrong, David Millar, Dwayne Chambers and the BOA’s lifting of the lifetime ban. The aim of this study was to develop an up to date account on the progressing issue of doping in sport by using elite performers’ perceptions of drugs combined with major anti-doping organisations’ policies to prevent this expanding predicament. This review has been constructed in the optimism that it can be used as a movement contributing to the battle against doping in sport. It is the belief that combining studies that are in relation to this review could develop a fundamental case to facilitate enhancements towards the actions taken against drugs in sport. This could then lead to considerable improvements for the future and hopefully eradicate doping once and for all.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction
The intention of this study is to examine the media coverage of athlete’s perceptions on performance enhancing drugs in the Olympics. The research conducted in this study is relevant in the context of the Sport and PE degree being undertaken by the researcher and the discipline this study falls under is Sports Psychology. Performance enhancing drugs has been an expanding issue in sport since the late 1950’s and there have been numerous opinions for and against this matter. The news of the world continuously portrays indignation of elite athlete’s getting discredited and sanctioned in their sport. For example during the 1998 Tour de France, Richard Williams wrote in the Guardian that doping is generally felt to be the worse of sporting crimes (Guardian, 1 August 1998). This view is extensively collective by both people inside and outside sport as Olympic gold medallist Sebastian Coe implied that doping is considered to be the most shameful abuse of the Olympic ideal. Coe calls for the life ban of offending athletes, coaches and the so-called doctors who administer this iniquity (see Donohoe and Johnson, 1986:1).
The creation of this study is due to the appeal of elite athlete’s perceptions on performing enhancing drugs and also because there is a limited amount of studies that have been conducted on this affair. A common fault with studies of this nature is that the sample size is diminutive. This is because most institutions are weary about athletes being questioned on drug use so this poses great complexity in obtaining a significant amount of participants. This was prevalent in the Hill, (2002) study that aimed to examine the perceptions of college athletes regarding illegal drugs in sport. Respectively due to the difficulty in supplying an adequate amount of participants which are openly willing to answer and discuss questions on drugs, the research for this study will be media based. The use of this method will then allow sufficient evidence of athlete’s perceptions to be produced, eliminating the complication of having to gain consent from a large quantity of individuals to address this topic. In contrast Striegel, Vollkommer & Dickhuth, (2002) managed to obtain 101 International German athletes to ask if doping in sports should be combated, and which anti-doping measures appeared effective from an athlete's perspective. The results were that 98.02% of the participants established that methods need to be engaged to fight doping in sports. This study has more
1 relation to the current review because professional athletes were used to question to determine their feelings about doping in sport. The exquisite percentage in general indicates the intensity of these beliefs and also suggests that there is a robust perception against this subject and that the athletes are determined to uptake measures to conflict drugs in sport. Although developing this method would be a good direction to take, the position that the researcher is in would cause vast intricacies to obtain a sample of that magnitude of professional athletes who are willing to openly discuss drugs. Consequently to eliminate these limitations the researcher has chosen to use media coverage.
Subsequent to the observation of articles such as the aforementioned it is apparent that this subject is prevalent and very interesting, implying that countless athletes have exceedingly firm beliefs towards the issue. This subject is not just attention-grabbing but also an incredibly delicate matter as Weinberg and Gould (2007) consider that the use of performance enhancing drugs is swiftly rising and that it is evident that the danger of death is not even a deterrent as long as victory is assured. This suggests the elevated importance of the matter and that the issues critically need to be accounted for. Additionally it is in the opinion of the researcher that further in depth research is essential and the choice of progressing research using the perceptions of elite athletes would be engaging and more meaningful when applied to the Olympics. Furthermore combining studies that are parallel to these, along with the development of others could be used to facilitate enhancements towards the actions against drugs in sport and could lead to considerable future improvements.
The research will be conducted by collecting data from appropriate media internet sites, electronic articles, newspaper articles and journals. All the data will be collected from April 2012 up until 2013 because this will cover the timeframe of the Olympics and allow a substantial amount of research to be collected from the media on doping. The research from these articles will provide a diversity of perceptions from various athletes on performance enhancing drugs such as penalties for drug abuse and their opinions towards other athletes’ misdemeanours. The research will also supply information on the history of drugs scandals in sport, drug testing in the Olympics and future directions to take.
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CHAPTER TWO
DRUGS IN SPORT
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2.0 Drugs in Sport
This section will briefly highlight the overall facts and figures of drugs in sport. It will give a general background of the IOC, BOA and WADA and what they have done over the years to combat drugs. This will consist of their previous to current aims and testing policies. This section will also discuss why drugs are being taken in sport and the recent issues that have come to surface in the media with the anti- doping organisations.
2.0.1 Policy
The use of drugs in sport has been a major issue for many years concerning politicians, doctors and the public to varying degrees and this issue is one that will continue to attract extensive media attention at major sporting events. According to (Mottram, 2011) performance enhancing drug use has become subject to doping control regulations and is the most serious threat to the credibility of competitive sport. Its concern is to gain an unfair advantage over fellow athletes by deliberately and unlawfully using drugs. There are many reasons for why sportsmen and women take performance enhancing drugs, especially at an elite level such as a desire to be the best or perform extra ordinarily accompanied with fame. Therefore when there are laws in place against doping in sport and offender’s liable to sustain a heavy fine and ban there is no justification. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was established in 1999 and their aim is to work towards a vision of a world where all athletes compete in a doping-free sporting environment. WADA begun as an urgent response to a crisis in sport and due to significant work, time and effort dedicated to combat drugs it has evolved into a global, committed network, government authorities and individuals working collectively to protect the health of the athlete and the integrity of the sport (Fahay, 2010).
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2.1 Testing
Swiftly after the establishment of WADA, during the first decade of the new millennium a number of significant events associated with doping and anti doping became prominent. A validated test for EPO was introduced at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney (Lasne and Ceaurriz, 2000). Despite this many athletes continued to use EPO, especially in cycling. Following this test, illicit drug suppliers were attempting to produce designer drugs that were ostensibly undetectable (Mottram, 2011). One of the drugs that resulted from this was tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) which caused a widespread sanctioning of a large number of high profile athletes. Subsequently, the use of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines to treat minor conditions has created serious problems and a number of high profile athletes tested positive, including Andreea Raducan, a gymnast who lost her gold medal from the Sydney Olympics in 2000 for using pseudoephedrine and Alain Baxter, the skier who tested positive for methamphetamine at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City (Armstrong and Chester, 2005). These accompanied with other cases led to the removal of most of the OTC drugs from the prohibited list produced by WADA in 2004. Their use is still monitored and recorded by some WADA laboratories and in January 2010, WADA re-introduced pseudophedrine to the prohibited list, where an adverse analytical finding is recorded if a urinary threshold of 150 microgram/ml is exceeded (Mottram, 2011).
Continuous research into gene technology was being used to improve drug design and Mottram, (2011) states that in anticipation of this technology being applied to enhance sporting performance, the IOC and WADA added gene doping to the prohibited list in 2003. WADA then produced the World Anti-Doping Code in 2003 and became responsible for its prohibited list in January 2004. Athletes, sports federations, the Olympic movement and governments were invited to comply with the code and it was implemented for the first time at the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 (Mottram, 2011). Following these events most sports and governments had declared their support for WADA and since 2006 WADA had been working closely with international enforcement agencies to uncover doping activities such as trafficking, which would not come to light through the athlete testing procedures (Vance, 2007). A strengthening of the testing procedures then consisted of
6 randomly testing athletes and them having to declare their whereabouts for periods during the week.
2.2 Policy
WADA undertakes an annual review of the prohibited list and major changes are made when needed. Recent issues have come to surface in the media with WADA combined with international federations in the doping community such as the International Olympic Community (IOC) and the British Olympic Association (BOA). The first issue brought to the attention of the media was the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over ruling the BOA’s lifetime bans for drug cheats. Writing in the Daily Mail about Sports and Olympics minister Hugh Robertson’s disappointment after this over-ruling, Neil Wilson and Jonathan McEvoy correctly pointed out that Robertson expressed his disappointment and called for tougher sanctions for doping offenses generally (Wilson and McEvoy, 2012). Robertson accepted this ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport but believed it was very unsatisfactory. Moving forward, Robertson stated that he would fully endorse UK Anti-Doping's first submission to WADA as part of its review of the World Anti- Doping Code. He believed the code should be additionally strengthened and he would particularly like to see firmer sanctions for drug cheats (Wilson and McEvoy, 2012). The BOA chairman Lord Moynihan described the outcome as a hollow victory for WADA and said their first obligation is to thrust for stronger sanctions for doping offences in the global code. Moynihan also established that Millar and Chambers would be treated equally with all members of team GB now that they are eligible to be selected by their sports (Wilson and McEvoy, 2012). This triggered a media storm of athlete’s perceptions as well as the public’s on whether this ruling is a correct decision or not and what further developments need to be addressed in the future. Lastly, Wilson and McEvoy (2012) wrote in the same article that WADA president John Fahey welcomed the ruling but discredited the BOA for the many inaccurate public statements' made during the case.
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Writing in the Guardian Marcus Christenson signifies that WADA hit back at the comments made by Lord Moynihan. Christenson wrote that the World Anti-Doping Agency accused the British Olympic Association of wasting a lot of time and money after failing to keep its lifetime ban for drugs cheats’ (Christenson, 2012). WADA’s director David Howman believed that Moynihan declaring the matter as a ‘hollow victory’ was wrong. Howman thought that the issue for the BOA was that the world has fundamentally disagreed with the outcome. Marcus Christenson added that the BOA is now pushing WADA to manipulate the code in order to achieve a minimum 4 year ban for a first series offence, with national Olympic committees still maintaining independence to increase sanctions further’ (Christenson, 2012). Therefore, writing in the Daily Mail a sports mail reporter importantly pointed out that any agreement would not be set in motion before the London Games so Chambers' and Millar's participation won’t be affected (Daily Mail, 29 April 2012).
Similar articles linking these issues that have recently been portrayed by the media consist of the overall thoughts and opinions of the WADA drugs policy, mainly focusing on the frailties of the lifted ban and also retesting doping samples from the 2004 Games. Talking to BBC Sports’ Jessica Creighton on WADA’s drugs policy, BBC athletics commentator Steve Cram states that a two year ban is a very small deterrent for serious drug offences and it is disappointing that this is the only rule WADA has in place (Cram, 2012). Cram believes that WADA has taken a safe legal stance but have got a weak case when it comes to taking the moral high ground. He goes on to say that it’s a shame WADA has taken the lifetime ban away and that sport should be bound to the same rules as society. Cram then concludes his argument by saying the authority of WADA is what we all rely on in sport to give us a level playing field, and offering people a second chance is much less important than having a strong stance on drug taking (Cram, 2012).
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Lastly, associated press taken from the Guardian has identified that the IOC will be attempting to seize anyone who may have avoided detection in the 2004 Games in Athens by retesting doping samples. The IOC has previously retested samples from the 2006 Winter Games in Turin which came back negative but the retesting of the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing resulted in five athletes being caught for use of CERA, an advanced version of the blood-boosting drug EPO. One of which was Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain who had his gold medal in the 1500 metres revoked (Guardian, 8 May 2012). The cause to retest is because IOC received a letter from the World Anti-Doping Agency that requested for the samples to be analysed again due to the appearance of new testing methods since 2004 (Guardian, 8 May 2012). These recent methods consisted of the detection of new substances such as insulin and human growth hormone. Doping samples from every Olympics are stored for eight years because this will allow a reanalysis to take place if new methods of testing are validated. Many athletes have got away from detection and have then later been caught due to this process so it is an effective way of further decreasing doping in sport and substantially limiting drug cheats from getting away with it.
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CHAPTER THREE
DRUGS AND THE OLYMPICS
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3.0 Drugs and the Olympics
During this section the history of drugs in previous Olympics will be outlined by using a timeframe dating from 1960-1988. The timeframe will be concluded with the Ben Johnson scandal because this can then be linked to athlete’s views and pre Olympic coverage regarding drugs.
3.1 History of Drug Use
There is a substantial history of drug abuse in sport and how the media portray people’s perceptions together with top athlete’s perceptions. Subsequent to researching the facts of drug abuse in the Olympics, it is generally believed that the modern increase in the use of performance enhancing drugs dates from the late 1950’s and early 1960’s (Lucas, 1992). Lucas states that during this period the issue was discussed by Prince Alexandre de Merodde, founder of the IOC’s Commission Medicale, in the Belgium newspaper Le Soir. Merode ended his essay on an admittedly optimistic note to look forward to a time soon when Olympic gold medal winners will not feel the need to make a detour to their local drug store (Lucas, 1992) This suggests that everyone recognised that drugs give a significant boost in the direction of victory which was enough for growing minority athletes, coaches and medical doctors to take the risk.
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3.2 Timeframe 1960 - 1988
Drug testing began in the late 1950’s after several European cycling and track races were discovered to be evident of drug use (Wilson and Derse, 2001). Wilson and Derse, (2001) stated that a cyclist died after the use of amphetamine was apparent during the1960 Rome Olympic Games and another died in the 1967 Tour de France who was found to have amphetamines in his body and in his possession. The testing for anabolic steroids was nonexistent at this time due to the lack of analysis procedures. The first formal testing for non-steroidal drugs occurred at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games (Donike and Stratmann, 1974). There were still no official testing for steroids until analytical advances in gas chromatography-mass spectrometry techniques led to the introduction of tests for anabolic steroids at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games (Bertrand, Masse, and Dugal, 1978). Therefore only a limited number of samples could be analyzed due to the complexity of these procedures. During the next few years screening procedures were consistently carried out to analyse samples for the presence of anabolic steroids and Wilson & Derse, (2001) stated that the method of determining whether or not the testosterone in an athlete’s body came from illegal use by the athlete was developed by Donike et al. (1983). In addition drug testing at the 1988 Olympics was summarised by Chung et al. (1990) and Park et al. (1990), but in terms of improved testing procedures, these articles provided little significant information (Wilson & Derse, 2001). However Lucas (1992) stated that Draconian emergency drug testing procedures were enacted following the Ben Johnson incident in late September 1988 and another world conference on anti doping in sport took place in November 1988. This specific incident brought about a scandal within the media where all eyes were focused on the ‘infamous’ Ben Johnson. When an athlete is caught of Ben Johnson’s stature it attracts a vast interest to the media. A scandal of this importance will not only catch the attention of the public but also of all elite athletes in the Olympic Community. For example Williams, J (2006) states that the Canadian world-class sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive for steroids during the 1988 Games in Seoul and as a result of this the former Olympic medal winner and hurdler Edwin Moses wrote in an October 1988 issue of Newsweek magazine: “Drug use definitely is rampant. In Seoul we had a community of people ravaged by steroids and other banned substances.”
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(p. 57). Moses was disheartened by the lack of effort officials had put in to resolve this issue of performance enhancing drugs, which in his opinion was suffocating the Olympics. Related coverage to this is continuous, especially nearer the time of the London Olympics the infinite media coverage on drugs in sport is heightened and the present elite athletes are being questioned and interviewed regularly to identify their perceptions on the delicate subject.
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3.3 Pre Olympic coverage regarding drugs - Athlete’s perceptions
Drug abuse is always extensive when it comes to elite competitions such as the Olympics so naturally there will be considerable media coverage regarding drugs. The major coverage mentioned previously identified by the media during the build- up to the London 2012 Olympic Games consisted of the lifetime bans being lifted for Dwayne Chambers and David Miller. This coverage can then be separated into athletes views, for instance The British triple jumper Yamile Aldama told the Observer that if athletes are caught intentionally cheating they should be banned for life, a two year ban is a joke (Aldama, 2012). She believes that there should be a minimum five year ban, even for the people who say it was an accident and that this requires action. Aldama, (2012) states that drug testing is not enough, we need to send out a message and educate people from a very early age. She argues that we will not be able to change people today so the new generation is the priority and it is essential to be tough for change to occur. In contrast to Yamile’s opinion Former Olympic triple jump champion Jonathan Edwards is happy the BOA’s lifetime ban for drug cheats was set to be overturned. Edwards believed that athletes should get a second chance (Edwards, 2012). He supposed that allowing Chambers and Miller to compete wasn’t an issue because Dwain Chambers has been competing for the last five years and David Millar has also been competing with British Cycling for a large number of years. Therefore Edwards, (2012) did agree with Aldama stating that two years is simply not enough and expressed his opinion that the world needs to unite and introduce four-year bans. Writing in the Daily Mail, Whitwell, (2012) identifies that sprinter Christian Malcolm seconded Edwards’ beliefs by expressing his views of having no problem with welcoming former drugs cheats at London because he would like to witness how fast they are without performance enhancing aids. Malcolm also believes in second chances; however the veteran sprinter has called on the World Anti-Doping Agency to enhance their lenient punishments on dopers (Whitwell, 2012). This suggests that Malcolm implies that the rule has to be the same for all dopers and that there cannot be this miss-match between countries, WADA need to take full control. The media present’s a variety of athlete’s views and perceptions similar to these on Chambers and Millar’s reprieve for the Olympics and these will go into more depth further on into the study.
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Further coverage regarding drugs leading up to the London 2012 Olympics consisted of David Millar calling for more testing and Dwayne Chambers warns athletes of the dangers of doping and how life ruining they can be. David Millar has called on the IOC to help fund a widespread drugs testing programme in the months leading up to the Games. Millar received a two year ban in 2004 after admitting using the blood-boosting agent EPO and said that drug offenders using similar substances or steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) will be conveyed as clean during the competition because they utilize in the two months before the commencement of the Games to avoid detection (Guardian, 6 March 2012). This implies that it can be difficult to detect traces of HGH because athlete’s take them months before to allow time for their bodies to flush the substance out during the period of the Olympics. For that reason Millar wants a more formal pre-Games anti-doping strategy from the Olympics body. In other coverage Dwayne Chambers hopes his presence in London will deter athletes from taking drugs and an article published by a sports mail reporter indicates that he feels doping did him and his career nothing but harm, which is a fate he hopes other athletes can avoid (Daily Mail, 13 July 2012). Chambers told the Times that he hopes his presence will make people think twice and never contemplate it because it really doesn’t help. It may assist your times and statistics but it ruins your life and you will regret that forever (Daily Mail, 13 July 2012).
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CHAPTER FOUR
MAJOR CASES OF DRUGS CHEATS
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4.0 Major cases of drugs cheats’
This section will highlight the major cases of drugs cheats that have been portrayed by the media. The main part of this section will focus on the cases that came to interest leading up to the London 2012 Olympics such as David Millar and Dwayne Chambers. A description of why these athletes have been exposed by the media will be provided and also a variety of different athlete’s perceptions. In addition the commencement of this section will be covered by the exposure of Lance Armstrong. This came to the media slightly after the research was collected for this study but as it’s probably the most famous drugs scandal of all time it was thought to be very relevant to the current review.
4.1 Lance Armstrong
There have been several athletes that have been caught leading up to and during the London 2012 Olympics. The most famous celebrated drugs cheat that has been exposed by the media this year, and probably the most famous case of all time is Lance Armstrong. Associated press writing in the Guardian stated that USADA, the official anti-doping agency for Olympic sports in the United States, created in 2000 charged Armstrong in June for the use of performance enhancing drugs. These charges came after a federal criminal investigation into doping allegations against Armstrong which lasted two years resulted in no charges filed against him. The anti-doping agency states that it has blood samples from 2009- 2010 that are fully consistent with doping and that associates and up to 10 former team-mates are willing to testify against him (Guardian, 9 July 2012). USADA accused Armstrong of taking blood boosters combined with steroids to win the Tour de France every year from 1999 to 2005. However Armstrong denied all charges and filed a federal lawsuit against the US Anti-Doping Agency to prevent the agency from moving ahead with the charges. His lawsuit said USADA’s arbitration process violated his constitutional rights and lacked jurisdiction. Therefore US District Judge Sam Sparks dismissed the lawsuit and allowed the case to proceed (Guardian, 20 August 2012). As a result Callow, (2012) states that Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after refusing to contest charges of doping, drug trafficking, and administering drugs to others. Armstrong denied all charges and withdrew his co-operation in the case, which
17 has resulted in revoking all of his career titles and banning him for life (Callow, 2012).
The outrage from this story was catastrophic across nations especially America as much of the United-States had idolised him. For instance Mitchell, (2012) indicates that trauma swept across American TV screens when Lance Armstrong withdrew his defence at an inquiry into alleged doping. Mitchell, (2012) suggests that in Europe, there was lingering scepticism and his previous Italian rival Filippo Simeoni was left perplexed. Simeoni said someone like him, who has fame, popularity and millions of dollars, should fight to the end if he’s innocent (Mitchell, 2012). Therefore it is a much wider issue and since this is becoming such a familiarity in cycling the UCI is dedicated to take severe action. Writing in the Guardian, Williams, (2012) highlighted that Pat McQuaid, the president of the international cycling union (UCI), announced that they have accepted the verdict of USADA and handed Armstrong a lifetime ban for orchestrating the largest doping conspiracy in the history of sport. McQuaid made it clear that Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling and that he deserves to be forgotten. Following this statement the World Anti-Doping agency encouraged the UCI to use the case as a catalyst to clean up the sport (Williams, 2012). This suggests that the media was not only focused on the disgraced Lance Armstrong but now implied that cycling was a tarnished sport. Kimmage, (2012) states since Tommy Simpson’s death in 1967, 86% of Tour de France winners have been blemished by doping. Kimmage believes that there has to be something wrong with this sport for it to keep happening. Therefore associated press writing in the Guardian, (22 October 2012) stated that McQuaid believed that it is not the first time the sport has reached a dilemma and that there is a future for cycling. McQuaid also expressed the opinion that cycling has progressed too far in the doping battle to return to the past so something like this must not happen again.
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4.2 David Miller
Scottish cyclist David Millar was banned between 2004 and 2006 for using the blood booster erythropoietin, but became eligible for the London Games after the court of arbitration for sport overturned the BOA's bylaw (Fotheringham, 2012). As a result of this ruling, Dave Brailsford, the performance director of British Cycling will pick David Millar. Brailsford endorses the proposal of a dependable global anti- doping policy and also wants lifetime bans for drug cheats, but if Millar is available for selection then he would be taken into consideration (Daily Mail, 20 April 2012). Brailsford pointed out that it is not in his profession to decide if somebody is eligible or not. His job is to observe a list of people who are eligible and then address performance before deciding who is most likely to get a result. However the by-law was introduced more than 20 years ago and has kept numeral British athletes out of past Olympics (BBC Sport, 20 April 2012). This argument has recovered support from a vast majority of high-profile current British athletes and several of these are portrayed in the media.
4.3 Dwayne Chambers
Dwayne Chambers served a two year ban after testing positive for THG in August 2003. He was in the same situation as Millar, evidently cleared to compete at London 2012 after the British Olympic Association's lifetime ban for drugs cheats was overturned. Chambers felt that doping did him and his career nothing but harm, which is a fate that he hopes other athletes can avoid (Daily Mail, 13 July 2012). Holt, (2012) states that Chambers always told his wife Leonie he would atone for the shame of using a cocktail of performance-enhancing drugs supplied by BALCO pharmacologist Victor Conte and being caught in 2003. The Olympic reprieve left Dwain Chambers with joy he couldn’t contain. He explained it was like a scene from ‘The Matrix’ and that Neo was going to pull the thing out of his head forcing him to wake up at any moment realising it was a dream (Holt, 2012).
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4.4 Athlete’s Perceptions
David Millar tells of the emotional decision to go all the way in battle for Olympic recognition in an article written by Ian Chadbond in the Telegraph. Millar lost it emotionally when his sister told him she’d heard the news that the BOA’s lifetime Olympic ban was going to be jettisoned. Chadbond, (2012) states that Millar had been through it all for eight years – bans, sanctions, being ostracised, legal problems – and the only thing left to hang over him was his lifetime Olympic ban. This implies that Millar didn’t realise how much he despised living with the ban until it was actually lifted. At first, he decided to walk away from the chance to go to the Games. It was the easy way out. He wouldn’t have to deal with any abuse and there would be no chance of failure and his biggest fear was his wife, Nicole, breaking down after seeing people write Drug cheat Millar shouldn’t be at the Olympics (Chadbond, 2012). Millar needed to explore wider opinions before he decided to be part of the Olympics and the one which mostly prompted his change of heart came from BOA Chairman Lord Moynihan. Millar asked Moynihan if he would be a negative influence on the team and if he was, he’d step away. However Moynihan was very gracious and he replied that it would be over his dead body that anyone in the BOA criticises his eligibility (Chadbond, 2012). Another influence on Millar’s decision was Mark Cavendish and Chadbond, (2012) highlights that Cavendish said “I know you’re torn but I respect you and whatever decision you make, you’ll still be my friend. Don’t worry about it”. Millar’s reply to that statement was that Cavendish is one of the few who’s publicly supported him all the way, especially when people like Chris Hoy were saying he shouldn’t go. Millar then goes on to say that he’s been through times where he thought he’d messed his life up forever, times when he was completely lost and depressed. Chadbond, (2012) concludes his article by pointing out that Millar beams in awe of Bradley Wiggins’ second consecutive Dauphine triumph and ponders: “We have the best sprinter ever in Cav, the best stage race rider in the world in Wiggo and the chance of Olympic gold at home. It’s possible we’re living through something we may never see again. Like cycling’s equivalent of the 1966 World Cup. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?”
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A sports mail reporter writing in the Daily Mail indicated that the four-time Olympic Champion, Sir Chris Hoy, told BBC Sport that it will be sad if we have to fall in line with the rest of the world. Hoy doesn’t see anything wrong with having more stringent rules but he thinks it should be the rest of the world that's falling in line with our rules (Daily Mail, 21 April 2012). Hoy believed that a good enough incentive not to dope was that you will not be allowed to compete in the Olympic Games if you are caught taking drugs. Hoy also supposed that lifting the ban was taking a step back in the fight against drugs. In addition Gallagher, (2012) states that Sir Chris Hoy welcomed Millar back into the GB Olympic set up because he is comfortable with whoever is selected if they are eligible. Therefore he took the opportunity of reiterating his ruthless opposition to doping in sport by stating that it wasn’t about an individual; it’s about the future and having a meaningful deterrent against people taking drugs (Gallagher, 2012). Millar wasn’t upset by the stance of those, like Hoy, who backed the idea that someone who has served a two year ban for serious doping offences has no place at the games as Chadbond, (2012) highlights that Millar completely understood his position. He describes Hoy as a paragon of perfection living in a white world. Millar believes others live in more of a grey world where we understand a bit more of what actually goes on and also groups Sir Steve Redgrave in this description referring to them as ‘white knights’. subsequently, elaborating on this statement, if the Olympics was filled with more athletes of their stature or ‘white knights’ as Millar labelled them, then there wouldn’t be this outstanding problem of doping. Instead of mocking Hoy and Redgrave maybe it would be a good idea for Millar and other athletes to take a leaf out of their book.
Sir Steve Redgrave ridiculed the ruling of the British Olympic Association to lift its lifetime bans for drug cheats (BBC Sport, 18 May 2012). The five time Olympic Champion was very disappointed with the decision and believed that it was ‘ridiculous’ that the athletes making their selection policy are drugs cheats. Redgrave acknowledged that the two-year bans imposed by WADA were insufficient. He believed a lifetime ban was very tough and people should have a second chance sometimes but under the BOA's prior law, you are banned for life if you take the risk. Redgrave, (2012) stated that if you signed up to that, it's something you should accept and WADA would hopefully see some sense and
21 extend the ban to four years instead of two, which in his opinion, would be accepted by everyone in sport. An article written by Redgrave, (2012) in the Telegraph stated that it was nine and eight years ago respectively since Dwain Chambers and David Millar served bans for their drug offences. Redgrave give credit to them for the way they have spoken up, admitting their doping and becoming significant advocates against the use of performance-enhancing drugs. But he thought they shouldn’t be favoured more than everyone else just because of that. Redgrave, (2012) has no problem with them coming back and competing at the major championships of their sport if they have served their federation’s bans, although he would feel very uncomfortable if he saw them competing in British colours. Redgrave then concluded his article in response to the lifted Olympic ban by saying there is only one message worthy of importance which is the one simple way of not being banned is don’t cheat. And the real sadness of today’s decision is that it just makes that message all the more difficult to ram home (Redgrave, 2012).
An article taken from BBC Sport, (20 April 2012) highlighted several athlete’s perceptions on the lifetime ban ruling such as Olympic 400m silver medallist Roger Black. Black stated that it is a sad day accepting that we knowingly will have people competing for our country who have tried to cheat (BBC Sport, 20 April 2012). Current world 400m champion Dai Greene believes that to discourage doping, tougher action is required by stating that Britain should not lower their standards to come in line with the rest of the world (BBC Sport, 20 April 2012). The article also indicated that Darren Campbell believes the rules were too inconsistent. Campbell, Christian Malcolm and Marlon Devonish had their 2003 World Championship 4x100m relay medals taken away after anchor-leg runner Chambers tested positive for the steroid THG six months later. Campbell states that the only way to cease revisiting these series of events is if WADA change the rules (BBC Sport, 20 April 2012).
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However there are some, although very few of those that support David Millar and the over-ruling. For instance London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe expressed his support for the BOA’s bylaw by saying it is right for sporting organisations to have the autonomy to decide who they want to see in their teams (Daily Mail, 21 April 2012). Coe also said that we continually believe it’s important to defend our selection policy and the right for every National Olympic Committee to determine their own eligibility standards for selection to their Olympic teams. But listening to the voice of British athletes is also important and their commitment to provide clean competition should be clearly understood (Daily Mail, 20 April 2012). Therefore it is important to remember that Sebastian Coe is singing from the BOA’s song sheet, he has to be witnessed as welcoming Millar.
Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee is also comfortable with the reformed drug cheat David Millar representing Great Britain. Rogge reflected that Millar has had an extremely good rehabilitation and reacted very well to his shortcomings and his sanctions by speaking openly about combating doping. This was suggested by the advice he gave to his cyclists such as informing them not to touch anything (Magnay, 2012). Rogge also pointed out that the new rules of law must be accepted along with the athletes’ eligibility to compete in the Games after committing doping offences (Magnay, 2012). In addition Magnay, (2012) indicated that Rogge concluded that it is irrelevant whether people are happy about that or not, we still have to treat them like anybody else.
Former Olympic triple jump champion Jonathan Edwards is happy the BOA’s lifetime ban for drug cheats was set to be overturned. Edwards believed in second chances for athletes but two years was simply not enough. He considered that uniting the world to introduce four-year bans is the way forward (BBC Sport, 23 April 2012). Commenting on Chambers and Millar, Edwards implied that there was no issue because they both have been competing for the UK for a large number of years, and Millar was team captain when Mark Cavendish won the World Championships so incorporating these athletes back into the team shouldn’t be a problem (BBC Sport, 23 April 2012).
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Chambers speaks openly to Oliver Holt during an interview for the Mirror about his gratefulness for the second chance he has been gifted and he hopes to make the most of it. Holt, (2012) writes “Everything was difficult during the time I was suspended from the sport and the Olympics because I didn’t want to associate with anybody. It was out of embarrassment and shame”. This suggests Chambers isolated himself for a while and that involved a lot of his friends and family. Because of that he didn’t get the chance to mend things so now he has got chance, he will mend them as soon and as calmly as he can. Chambers acknowledges the responsibilities of his actions, “I have to remember how much damage I caused,” he said. “I was young and stupid, trying to think I knew it all. If you have got no navigation, you just get lost. And I was” (Holt, 2012). Chambers also wants his children to witness what he had gone through so that he can show them what is wrong and what is the right thing to do. “If you make a mistake, you take the responsibility, you take your punishment and you get on with it. That’s what I want to instil in them,” he said. Chambers concludes the interview by saying “I burned many bridges by acting the way I did and I made things worse with some of the things I said, I can only hope in time people’s opinions change. All I can do now is just run” (Holt, 2012).
In addition Dwain Chambers believes his presence at the Olympics should serve as a warning to anyone thinking of doping. A sports mail reporter indicates that Chambers hopes his presence will make people think twice and never contemplate doing it because it doesn’t help. Chambers stated that you may look at times and statistics but it doesn't help your life. It ruins your life and you will regret it forever (Daily Mail, 13 July 2012). This implied that doping made him a very unsociable person and ruined his career. He also carried the guilt of contributing to ruin the image of the sport.
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Paula Radcliffe demanded action after Chambers’ reprieve and vowed to lead a worldwide campaign to pressurise the World Anti-Doping Agency into applying tougher bans on drugs cheats (Daily Mail, 1 May 2012). Radcliffe called on athletes to make their concerns heard after accusing WADA of failing to listen to them. After being questioned about Dwain Chambers, Radcliffe objects that it is not about him it is about a larger deterrent being put in place that is the issue and if WADA refuses to listen to the world's athletes then it is their job to make them listen (Daily Mail, 1 May 2012). Radcliffe’s aim was to make a stand and put pressure on WADA to make sanctions tougher. Radcliffe encouraged that if all the athletes logged on to a campaign and signed their name to it, it would spread worldwide (Daily Mail, 1 May 2012).
Asafa Powell backed Dwain Chambers to give an impressive account of himself at the London Olympics after his ban was lifted. Powell said that Dwain is working hard. He really deserves this and he's a real cool guy and we enjoy training with him here, hopefully he gets to go there and run well (Daily Mail, 24 May 2012). Powell suggested that if people want the best chance possible for the UK and want someone in the final then Dwain is their greatest prospect (Daily Mail, 24 May 2012). Powell was asked directly whether he backed the decision to let Chambers run in London and his reply was that he indefinitely welcomed it and that he’d hoped that would be the outcome, so he was very pleased for him. (Daily Mail, 24 May 2012).
Canada's disgraced former sprinter Ben Johnson has also said Chambers should have the right to run at his home Olympics and that everybody deserves a second chance in life. Johnson indicates that there are many people who've done bad things in the world that we don't know about so no-one should judge anybody (Daily Mail, 24 May 2012). Johnson was thrown out of the 1988 Olympics in Seoul after winning the 100m, being stripped of his gold medal after testing positive for steroids. He later returned to action but was banned for life in 1993 for failing another drugs test.
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Dean Macey competed for Great Britain in two Olympic Games and when writing in the Guardian about Chambers, he stated that he was very impressed by the way he rehabilitated himself by going out to meet the public in schools and clubs (Macey, 2012). Macey implied that Chambers was led down the wrong path with the accompaniment of persuasion and that his presence on the team is going to improve the chances significantly of winning a medal. Macey, (2012) also suggested that Dwain had very little choice in the sincerity for his desire to reform himself because the British fans don't tolerate drugs cheats. If you get caught cheating and you don’t try to change your life around, you will be cast out. Regrettably that doesn't seem to be the case in some other countries and Macey, (2012) then concluded his argument by indicating that a global sport cannot be ruled with your heart, it has to be ruled by law. But in this case the law is wrong and Macey does not want the drugs cheats representing him or his country. He believes that if you commit the ultimate crime you should pay the ultimate sanction (Macey, 2012).
Former Olympian Jamie Baulch also considers Dwain Chambers should be banned for life. Baulch told BBC Sport that Dwain was a lovely bloke but he should be banned for life and never allowed back in the sport (BBC Sport, 25 April 2012). However he recognised the issue for Dwain was that it is unfair that other people are allowed back to compete at the Olympics. People cannot argue that Dwain can't participate because he is British but then allow some American, it’s unethical (BBC Sport, 25 April 2012).
Taken from the same article, Welsh athlete Christian Malcolm conveys his sympathy for Chambers by saying he has served his time now and that he heard disappointment and fear in Chambers’ voice during the first phone call Chambers made after failing his drug test (BBC Sport, 25 April 2012). Malcolm confesses that he was angry at him but he could perceive that Chambers was a person in need at the time. After intensely discussing the issues with Dwayne, Malcolm finally accepted his apology and forgave him for what he had done (BBC Sport, 25 April 2012).
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However another article taken from BBC Sport portrayed Christian Malcolm’s thoughts on Chambers. Malcolm stated that he was misled at the time and that he was young, vulnerable, and very naive and has had to learn from a tough mistake (BBC Sport, 26 March 2012). Malcolm is currently hoping to qualify for his fourth Olympic Games in London and would like to see redemption, but he would also like to see the drug cheats come back because he is interested in witnessing what they can do without the drugs. Malcolm questions ‘are they really talented enough to perform well or did the drugs help them?’ And also inclines that if the cheats come back without drugs in their system and don't do well, then that is the real punishment (BBC Sport, 26 March 2012).
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CHAPTER FIVE
CURRENT TESTING
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5.0 Current Testing
This section will introduce the current testing procedure in the 2012 Olympics as a greater appreciation for the potential in the history of drug misuse, and then provide an underlying principle for the record number of tests. During this justification, examples of athletes competing under the shadow of drugs will be discussed such as Bradley Wiggins and Ye Shiwen suggesting that cheats are to blame for this outcome.
Thompson, (2012) stated that the Olympics anti doping operation consisted of 150 scientists that analysed 6,250 samples during London 2012, which is a record number. Previous athletes have attempted to evade drug detection by providing other peoples' urine in the past so to certify this will not be the case in the present Olympics the competitors are required to urinate into two testing bottles in front of a control officer as demanded by the anti doping authorities. The officer will then apply tamper proof seals to the containers and these are then individually labelled and sent by a courier to the laboratory (Neat and Gibson, 2012). The samples will be taken to the GlaxoSmithKline testing laboratory to be tested for more than 240 prohibited substances in less than 24 hours. A team of specially trained delivery drivers were briefed with a series of secret signals to ensure that the athletes' drug testing samples were not tampered with. Managers were to be alerted immediately if anything goes wrong during the delivery of the samples to a laboratory in Essex through the use of information and communications technology devised by the UPS. Neate and Gibson, (2012) also suggest that the number of scientists that will analyse 6,250 samples is more than at any other in history. A further demand by the anti doping authorities is that every medal winner and half of all competitors will be chosen at random and tested. If the results are positive they will be returned in 48 hours, except for the endurance boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO), which will take 72 hours. In addition the laboratory will operate around the clock and samples will be stored for at least eight years so that if any new analysis techniques become available they can be re-tested.
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The World Anti-Doping Agency warned that athletes would face humiliation if they tested positive due to the fact that Britain is the host nation. WADA President, John Fahey stated that you would have to carry that cloud on your head, that stigma against your name and for the rest of your life you will become an outcast (Kelso, 2012). A new test for human growth hormone is to be introduced at the Games and this will allow testers to achieve a longer period of time in which to detect its use. Human growth hormone occurs naturally in the body therefore making it difficult to detect in the past so David Howman, the Director General of WADA indicated that the test would be carried out alongside existing detection methods for the substance (Kelso, 2012). Neate and Gibson, (2012) state that during the Games, the latest test for human growth hormone can be utilised by the laboratory along with the preceding test as well, so they will be complementary to each other instead of separate. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) highlighted that nine track and field athletes have been caught for doping violations during a concentrated effort to abolish the use of forbidden substances in the lead up to London 2012 (Neate and Gibson, 2012). Moroccan marathon runner Abderrahim Goumri was included in the nine captured with the aid of the athlete biological passport programme and this will be used for the first time at an Olympics in London. Kelso, (2012) indicates that this system uses regular monitoring of key biological markers to establish a normal profile for an athlete and the five sports that will employ the biological passports are cycling, track and field, swimming, triathlon and modern pentathlon.
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5.1 Cheats are to blame for doping accusations
The outcome of current testing and the record number of tests can be viewed as a direct result of previous doping scandals, putting the blame for this phenomenon on drugs cheats. This also impacts on current clean athletes competing in the form of accusations of doping after exceptional performances and forcing them to compete under a shadow of drugs.
Bradley Wiggins has now become the centre of suspicion during the Tour de France. Gallagher, (2012) states that abusive heckles in the form of anonymous tweets has been received by Wiggins and Team Sky, and a whispering campaign in the French and Spanish media have been aroused by Wiggins’ magnificent success over the 14 months prior to the Tour de France. Wiggins won the Critérium du Dauphiné twice, Paris-Nice and the Tour of Romandie during that period and even though the victories were not by large margins, this ongoing success is clearly a phenomenon that the sport is not comfortable with anymore. With Lance Armstrong under investigation by USADA for alleged doping during his seven consecutive tour wins from 1999 along with other countless scandals, it can be argued that it is difficult to have faith in Wiggins. Gallagher, (2012) highlights that before the 2006 Tour, Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso were withdrawn for their connections with the Spanish police investigation Operation Puerto. In the same year Floyd Landis tested positive for testosterone after the race. A year later the holder of the yellow jersey, Michael Rasmussen, was withdrawn by his Robank team for his failure to explain a series of missed drugs tests, while Alexandre Vinokourov tested positive for blood doping and Christian Moreni for testosterone. The following year Jersey winner Bernard Kohl from Austria tested positive for a form of EPO, while in 2010 Alberto Contador was declared the winner but details of his positive test for Clenbuterol emerged a month later and he was stripped of the title. This history has resulted in a heightened desire from journalists in Spain, Belgium and Holland to request more information on Wiggins’ ‘sudden’ and ‘surprising’ enhancement (Gallagher, 2012).
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Wiggins and Sky have also been aware of a gathering whispering campaign before the commencement of the Tour when Stephen Roche , who won the Tour 25 years ago, warned of what might lay ahead in the 23 days it takes to win a Tour de France. “You are always under suspicion and it’s because of what has been happening in the last 15 years or so,” said Roche. “I understand that but it is important to always answer questions. It’s important not to avoid those questions” (Gallagher, 2012). Hayward, (2012) believes that Wiggins may be using the insinuations as fuel to force him through races to come so that flailing at his enemies does serve a purpose. However the doubt around him is irremovable and it is generally suspected that the dopers and con artists who have industrialised pharmaceutical fraud are to blame for that (Hayward, 2012). Wiggins also attacks them to but it would be a pity if this race became a road of bitterness for him, that would be a sad dispensation to his enemies.
An athlete who is also competing under the shadow of suspicion is the 16 year old Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen, after winning gold in an exceptional women’s 400m individual medley. Ye’s world record time of 4 minutes and 28.43 seconds in the final of the 400m individual medley (IM) was seven seconds faster than her previous swim in the 2011 World Championship final (Bull, 2012). Therefore it wasn’t her age or winning time that aroused top USA swimming Coach John Leonard’s suspicion. It was the fact in the manner of the ease and swiftness with which Ye swam the last 100m. Bull, (2012) indicated that After 300m of butterfly, back and breaststroke, Ye was eight-tenths of a second behind the USA's Elizabeth Beisel and after a further 100m of freestyle, Ye was just under three seconds ahead of her. But the astonishing fact of these games is that Ye's final length time was faster than that of the winner of the men’s individual medley, Ryan Lochte who triumphed by means of the second fastest time in history. This performance brought back memories for Leonard of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, when Ireland's Michelle Smith won three gold medals before being banned for doping offences two years later. This followed after Smith denied direct accusations from her US rival Janet Evans. Ye has been confronted by the press, questioning the manner of her performance but there has been no one inside the sport that has doubted the astonishing record until Leonard spoke out (Bull, 2012).
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Many people have described Ye’s achievement as ‘unbelievable’ including Ariana Kukors, the 2009 World Champion in the 200m medley. However Ye won the 200m IM title at the 2011 world championships at the age of just 15 and Australia's Stephanie Rice, who won gold in both medley events at the Beijing Olympics said she was next to Ye in the 200m IM last year and that she was over powered by her in that freestyle leg, symptomatic of that she is not exactly bad herself (Bull, 2012). There is no evidence against Ye yet so for the wider public this occurrence is a matter of debate and personal opinion. Consequently Leonard has gained decade’s worth of knowledge and experience and has a firm anti-doping stance so he believes that the question should be asked. Leonard assured that if you observe the woman and her biomechanics in the heats, she has a steady and moderately slow, six-beat kick, referring to the number of kicks Ye takes with each arm stroke. Then in the Olympic final she very abruptly increased it up to an eight- beat kick. Leonard implies that this occurrence is very difficult to maintain for 25m, let alone 100m and this point would be backed up by any other coach (Bull, 2012).
The teenage Chinese swimmer added another Gold medal to her collection after winning the 200m individual medley and instantly became the centre of a global controversy over allegations of doping. Addley, (2012) indicates that Ye was directly asked whether she had ever used performance enhancing substances, and her reply was ‘absolutely not.’ Ye claimed that her success, along with former young swimmers mentioning the 17-year-old US athlete Missy Franklin, was because of the extremely hard work and dedication in training (Addley, 2012). Addley, (2012) Also highlighted that John Leonard, who is the Executive director of the world swimming coaches association added to his previous statement by saying that every time we see something 'unbelievable' in our sport, history shows us that it turns out later on there was doping involved. Conversely there are others that defend the youngster such as Colin Moynihan, chairman of the British Olympic Association. Moynihan argued that she's been through WADA’s programme and come out clean so that should be the end of the story. He strongly believed that Ye Shiwen deserves to be recognised as an extraordinary swimmer with an incredible talent (Addley, 2012). This statement, as we all hope, could well be the case but one thing is clear, her achievements will forever be tarnished by
33 speculation and if she hasn’t taken drugs, if her innocence is proven, that is dreadfully distressing.
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CHAPTER SIX
DISCUSSION
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6.0 Discussion
This section will discuss the state of play of the issues and policy changes, along with the athletes’ perceptions that have been highlighted throughout this review. It will also discuss the consequences of current testing procedures and how they have progressed. An overview of continuing issues will then be identified, including the Australian drug scandal and the discussion will be concluded with various ways to move forward for doping in sport.
6.1 Policy
This review has identified the first issue as the variability in sanctions for athletes. As a result of this the BOA Chairman, Lord Moynihan described the outcome as a victory for WADA and stated that they would be pushing for tougher sanctions for doping offences in the global code (Wilson and McEvoy, 2012). However Christenson, (2012) stated that the BOA is now pushing WADA to manipulate their code and change the minimum ban of two years to four for a first series offence. Other National Olympic committees are trying to increase sanctions further and subsequent to addressing the findings in this review this is a grouped opinion of the majority of athletes and individuals that take interest to, and work within the field of sport. Nearly all the athletes included under the ‘athlete’s perceptions’ sub- heading in this study believe that WADA is taking a step back in the fight against doping in sport by lifting the ban and that tougher sanctions are essential with a minimum of a four year ban. Several athletes strongly argued that lifetime bans should still be in place such as Sir Chris Hoy, Dean Macey and Jamie Baulch for instance Hoy suggested that a lifetime ban to compete in the Olympic Games is a good incentive not to take drugs and that would provide a meaningful deterrent against people doping (Daily Mail, 21 April 2012). Whilst Macey, (2012) implied that drugs cheats being allowed back into sport is wrong and if the ultimate crime is committed then you should pay the ultimate sanction.
The effect that previous doping has had on the testing at the London 2012 Games is pronounced causing a record number of drugs test to be carried out that is 10% more than were conducted in Beijing in 2008 (Jevans, 2012). This will consist of the analysis of more than 6,000 samples for as many as 400 banned substances by drug testing staff and these substances will be categorised into a variety of
36 drugs that include anabolic steroids, hormones, stimulants, masking agents, beta- blockers, alcohol, narcotics, and cannabis. Blood doping tests will also be present and the many of the samples taken will be urine, but 1,000 or more will be blood- based. The most sophisticated science ever employed at a major international sporting festival will be indispensable to support the testing program. Stewart, (2012) states that gas chromatographs and mass spectrometers will be pushed to their limits by 150 scientists that will analyse around 500 blood and urine samples per day and to add to the stress, a most challenging demand has been placed on the scientists and lab technicians. They are required to meet an unrealistic turnaround of less than 24 hours to announce negative results. The testing will be amplified through information gained from law enforcement agencies, customs, and even cleaners and this program will involve more investigation and surveillance than ever before. Moreover, meaningful consequences of this testing outcome are not just the monumental demands placed on these workers, but the cost as well. Stewart, (2012) indicates that the lab built specifically for this procedure will cost $40m with running costs adding another $20m which double’s WADA’s annual revenue. Lastly WADA’s operational costs need to be considered and this has become problematic as a result of a dormant budget. In consequence to this, WADA has reduced its spending for the Olympics, which has caused a decrease in the observer team that monitors drug testing and a reduction in the outreach program in the athletes' Village (Stewart, 2012).
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6.2 Continuing Issues
The sad reality is that it is clear that a development of work is vital to combat doping in sport because it still frequently continues to occur and depressingly recent issues have come to surface in the media with WADA, including an uncovering of a doping scandal in Australia due to poor testing protocols.
The Australia Crime Commission (ACC) reported that allegedly, extensive doping and illegal drug use was prevalent among Australian athletes. Rourke, (2013) stated that the use of performance enhancing drugs was facilitated by organised crime and condoned by coaches, sport scientists and support staff across numerous sporting codes. This case was uncovered after a yearlong investigation and Jason Clare, the national minister for home affairs and justice told the Guardian that it is particularly serious because links between players and organised crime exposes the risk of players being co-opted for match fixing (Rourke, 2013). This suggests that the vast amount of money and enhanced doping in sport has attracted the criminal underworld which has resulted in causing further problems to address such as ‘match fixing’. This is due to the identification of a potential case of match-fixing by the ACC. However there were no details released, citing legal reasons. Clare also stated that in some cases sports scientists had orchestrated the doping of entire teams and that the drugs that were administered to the players were not even approved for human use yet (Rourke, 2013). The ACC report states that a top Australian rules football (AFL) club, Essendon, was under investigation by the Australian Sports Anti-doping Authority (ASADA) over concerns that supplements were given to its players in 2012. If the players are found guilty they will face bans for over two years and according to some national newspaper reports it is believed that the use of supplements was so widespread at Essendon, that the club may face difficulty fielding a team this season. Rourke, (2013) also implies the country's major sporting codes, which include soccer, rugby union and rugby league, Australian rules football and cricket have responded to the ACC report and agreed to institute integrity units and fully cooperate with ASADA to assist in the elimination of doping.
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6.3 moving forward
According to the World Anti-doping Agency levels of doping in sport are now worse than ever and a new trans-national body is required to combat the across- the-board corruption. The uncertainties that athletics is following in the same footsteps as cycling in uncovering a serious culture of cheating is also an emergent worry. Following the Australian Crime Commission investigation and the Operation Puerto trial in Spain WADA’s director general David Howman has admitted that the problem has become larger, more serious and is now getting too big for sport to manage (Gibson, 2013). As a result Howman has issued a plea for a new sports integrity unit to interrelate with law enforcement agencies around the world to take responsibility and combat doping, match-fixing, corrupt betting and other forms of cheating linked to global organised crime. The UK Anti-Doping chief executive, Andy Parkinson and Howman both told the Guardian that the issues acknowledged by the ACC were believed to be ubiquitous in the UK and elsewhere. Howman stated that if you think the mafia and underworld aren't involved in sport in this country, you're in fairyland (Gibson, 2013). In addition the Wada president, John Fahey said that some professional footballers could progress through their whole career without being tested so he has now called on other professional team sports to ensure that players are targeted for testing at least four times a season (Gibson, 2013).
Gibson, (2013) also states that WADA is now pushing for a succession of changes to its 2015 code to obligate global sports bodies to test for the full menu of drugs. This will also target coaches and entourages in the struggle to manipulate the current sanction for failing a test from two to four years. Furthermore, the International Olympic Committee is set to hold a conference on the role of WADA and how it’s progressing towards the combat of drugs. The IOC supplies 50% of Wada's funding and the conference will bring together international sports federations, national Olympic committees and athletes in either late April or early May. (Gibson, 2013).
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WADA have a vision of a world where all athletes compete in a doping-free sporting environment and their mission is to lead a collaborative worldwide campaign for doping-free sport (WADA, 2013). To achieve this WADA has developed a strategic plan for the next five years to align its activities and resources. WADA, (2013) indicates that the plan has eight objectives which are based on the current environment and emerging trends in anti-doping. The plan is also based on WADA’s operational activities and outlines key objectives, major strategies, programs and performance indicators that focus on WADA’s direction and enable it and stakeholders to assess its effectiveness (WADA, 2013). The context of the objectives and strategies for the plan are provided by the current environment and emerging trends in the areas of science, medicine, education, international trafficking of doping substances and investigations. To offer assistance and achieve this environment WADA, (2013) states that the advancement of cooperation with the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), and other governmental bodies, are forming partnerships. This plan can be located on WADA’s home webpage and if these strategies are successfully fulfilled it will preserve the integrity and value of sport and youth, actively promote the level playing field philosophy and act independently, professionally and without bias or influence (WADA, 2013).
Aforementioned the statement made by WADA Director General David Howman ‘too big to manage’ triggers a compelling argument that this crisis will never be erased. This begs the question that is it worth the colossal struggle to fight doping in sport when it clearly is never going to cease? Would the allowance of performance enhancing drugs be the next direction to take? This view was expressed by American Professional Boxer Tony Thompson. Thomson believes that the only way to deal with the problem is to legalise doping and he insists that sport has become so corrupt that only by allowing everyone to take performance enhancing drugs is the way to approach fairness. He told BBC 5 live that they should allow doping because in his opinion it's like the gun law, only the good guys are listening so it leaves the good guys without the guns (Dawes, 2013). Thompson suggested that sport is mainstream entertainment and that the desire
40 for a show means there is a case that can be made for making it more spectacular. Thompson suggested that when you watch sports you want to be entertained and you want the athletes to be the biggest, and the best they can be regardless of how level the playing field is. He implies that all of the money that’s being used to catch cheats and supplement your body in sports should be put to greater causes such as insider trading and eliminating hunger in the world because it is ‘just sport’ (Dawes, 2013). Although Thompson did add that this is an issue of choice and that he wouldn’t do anything to alter his body or encourage his son to do so either (BBC Sport, 21 February 2013). In contrast to this Thompson’s next opponent David Price argued that legalising drug use would have catastrophic consequences and that prevention is better than cure so even if we are just putting people off the thought of doping at the moment, then that is the way forward (BBC Sport, 21 February 2013).
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7.0 Conclusion The original purpose of this study was to investigate elite athletes’ perceptions on performance enhancing drugs along, with anti-doping organisations’ policies to develop an up to date account on the progressing issue of doping in sport. The findings represent that doping in sport is currently at its worst and it is a grouped belief that the lifting of the lifetime ban is detrimental to combating doping in sport. The majority of athletes want tougher sanctions for drug cheats such as a minimum of a four year ban and in some cases wish for the lifetime ban to be still in place. By putting a vast amount of money into testing, it has enabled an enormous development of new methods. However this recent technology also enhances the methods in which to evade drug detection. Continuing issues of drugs scandals in sport such as the Australian case and links to the criminal underworld with match fixing suggests that this is a global concern that is ceasing to diminish; therefore the view of Tony Thompson is becoming increasingly more extensive and maybe the future direction to take. To conclude this study, taking into account all recent happenings, this is a case worthy of further investigation and would be a valid path for an interested researcher to take. Gathering additional information on this topic is imperative to manufacture, to provide a way forward and ultimately develop a justified solution.
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